"You look like a man with much on his mind, Mr. Hornblower."

There is a paleness to Archie's skin that bothers him, but he tries not to think of it, tries not to think of anything as he allows a small smile. "There is always much on my mind, Mr. Kennedy, though rarely is it of import or interest."

"I always find it most keenly interesting when you're plotting, Mr. Hornblower." He shifts on the bed and winces slightly, leaning back against the pillows with a soft sigh of relief. "I may find myself in the thick of danger and in threat of the noose, but rarely ever do I feel so alive."

"And barely that, Mr. Kennedy," Horatio reminds him quietly, his gaze disapproving enough to stop Archie's restless movements. "You need your rest."

"As do you, Mr. Hornblower, and do not deny it." He pats the space on the bed between them and looks pointedly at his friend. "Come, Captain. You will soon enough be on a storm-tossed sea. Enjoy the beauty of it without your stomach rebelling, hmm?"

"You are cruel to tease me so, Mr. Kennedy." Horatio offers him a small grin as sits on the edge of the bed, well away from Archie. "To hold such distant offenses against me."

"Distant, Mr. Hornblower? Keep you on shore leave for more than a day and you're green as the deep Atlantic well into the voyage." He reaches out, his fingers brushing gently over the back of Horatio's hand. "Though it is one of the few times I am allowed to touch you, so I should not wish you to change it."

"Archie…"

"Though perhaps I should not wish it on you, as you will soon be gone to where I cannot reach you, and I do not wish some other helpful Midshipman or Lieutenant to be privy to your secret and desire to help his Captain."

"Archie."

Archie smiles at Horatio's disapproving glance and pulls his hand away, turning it so that his palm lies up beside Horatio. "You think so little of yourself, you know. And yet there are so many who admire you."

"I do not seek their admiration, Mr. Kennedy."

"And I do not wish to imply such, Mr. Hornblower. However, I know that there will be at least one other before your career is done who will see you the way I do, who will know you the ways you do not wish to be known."

"No one will do that, Archie. No one beyond you."

"Some young man will make advances toward you, no fear of the noose in his eyes if he can only find the right thing to find favor in his Captain's eyes."

"Will you persist in this, then?" Horatio gets to his feet and makes his way back to the window, his hands tucked behind his back, his knuckles white as he grasps his wrist. "What is it you wish me to say, Mr. Kennedy? That I will be swayed by some beautiful boy and succumb? Is that what you wish to hear?"

"No, Horatio." Archie's voice is soft and sad. "But neither do I wish you to be lonely. You are not a man well-served by loneliness. You are too much in your own head, and find yourself not fit enough company unless the topic of conversation is whist or mathematics."

"And so you will pawn me off on some Midshipman who will defer to me and call me Sir as I…what, Archie? What am I to do with this mythical boy you've given me in an attempt to keep me from thinking?"

Archie doesn't speak for a long moment, long enough to draw Horatio's eyes to him. His lips are pressed together in pain and his fingers press firmly against the pad of white bandages beneath his thin shirt.

"Archie?" He moves to the bed quickly and kneels beside it, his hand over the top of Archie's, over the thick bandages that ring Archie's body. "Archie?"

"You are destined for greatness, Horatio. And there will be ladies-in-waiting and duchesses and dames at your side. There will be boys and men that seek your attentions just as slyly."

"And throughout this all, you think there will be anyone in my heart, save you?" Heat suffuses Horatio's face at the burst of words, the soft echo of emotion in them. "Archie."

"I will not hang, Horatio," Archie assures him softly, "but neither will I again see the sea. And your duty will call you home."

"My duty is tossed on a stormy sea as we speak, Archie. Miles off shore and most unreachable right now." Horatio moves back to the bed and stretches out, his long fingers sliding down Archie's arm. "There are things beyond duty."

"Not to you."

"Yes, Mr. Kennedy." Horatio leans in, his lashes dark against his skin, as he whispers softly against Archie's lips. "Even to me."